


Touch

by katherine1753



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Panic Attacks, SO MUCH FLUFF, Touch-Starved Kylo Ren, but luckily hux is there to fix it, claustrophobic ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-12 02:04:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7080196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherine1753/pseuds/katherine1753
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo Ren is used to ships, but not enclosed spaces. Hux tries to help, only to find the Knight is nearly starved for affection. <br/>What's a General to do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oorsprong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oorsprong/gifts).



> Love you!!

The bridge of the Finalizer was abuzz with activity, everything in order and strictly following procedure. It was like a well-oiled machine, and at the center of that efficiency, leading it all, was General Hux. He felt powerful as he looked across the bridge at his staff, his controls, through the viewport to the galaxy. _His_ galaxy, someday. He was planning his victory speech, again, when suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by one of his Lieutenants.

“Sir?” He turned away from his favorite view to come face to face with a nervous looking Mitaka. So nothing new then. Hux merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “It's Lord Ren, sir.”

Hux sighed. The situation still held nothing new, save for the expense reports he would have to fill out for whatever had been damaged this time. “Where?”

“Panel Room Five, sir. Would you like me to-” Mitaka looked like he would rather do anything else than what he was beginning to offer. Hux interrupted him, taking pity on the man.

“No need, Lieutenant.” Mitaka's sheer relief was visible. Hux found it a bit pathetic. Sure, Lord Ren could be scary at first glance, but honestly he was just a large teenager that needed scolding. “I'll deal with this myself, but do come along. And bring my datapad, this will most certainly take a while,” he added. Whenever he dealt with the Master of Knights directly, a fair amount of time was always spent arguing first. It was best to be prepared so as not to waste precious hours.

Hux strode down the hallways of the ship purposefully, ready to get this over with, as Mitaka hurried along trying to catch up to the General. Hux straightened his greatcoat over his shoulders and brushed imaginary creases out of his immaculately pressed sleeves as his long legs carried him to the wing of control rooms. The sight he was met with in Panel Room Five was not unfamiliar, though highly irritating: Kylo Ren wreaking havoc on walls full of expensive controls.

“Lord Ren,” Hux said authoritatively as he stepped confidently into the room, the two words serving as a warning and announcing his presence simultaneously. Mitaka was left just outside the door. The Knight only growled in response, slashing his lightsaber through another wall of lights that burst into smoke and flickered out. Hux sidestepped a still-sparking console (ruined), heading further into the room.

“Ren! Stop this at once, you overgrown child!” Hux's admonishment fell upon deaf ears as Ren kept swinging at everything he could reach, angry sounds coming out distorted through the voice modulator of his helmet.

When his weapon stabbed deep into a previously undamaged panel, the lights flickered.

“Ren,” Hux warned, but it was too late: when the lightsaber burned its way out, the doors slid shut with a pneumatic hiss and half of the lights in the room went out.

“Ren. What did you do.” Hux stated dangerously, demanding an explanation. The Knight didn't move, one hand with a tight grip on the hilt of his still-blazing saber, the other outstretched like it was ready to choke an invisible enemy. The ship suddenly gave a massive lurch, knocking Hux into a smoking wall and causing Ren to stumble violently.

“I didn't -” the Knight began to say, voice in a strangled tone, but was cut off when the ship lurched again.

“Mitaka!” Hux snapped at the sealed doors to the small room. “What is going on?”

“That was the main stabilizer control, sir,” the muffled reply sounded even more shaken than usual. “I have Thanisson getting the back-up ones online now. It should be just a few minutes, General.”

The stabilizers. Wonderful. The back-ups would enable them to continue to fly the ship, but there would be turbulence. Hux hated when things didn't run smoothly. Of course, this was all Ren's fault. He turned to glare at the man, who was frantically looking around the room.

“The lights might take a bit longer, sir,” and somehow, even muffled through thick layers of steel, the Lieutenant had the talent of managing to be able to sound wholly apologetic.

Hux sighed again. “And the door?” he asked warily, fearing the bad news he was sure to hear as the Lieutenant hadn't offered any information on it yet.

There was hesitation. Hux could feel it. “I'm not sure about the door, sir.”

And if that wasn't _exactly_ how Hux wanted to spend his day: trapped for an unforeseeable amount of time in a broken room with an unstable Force-user. He didn't even have his datapad.

“See to it personally, Lieutenant,” Hux ordered angrily.

“Right away, sir,” came Mitaka's panicked reply, and then it was quiet. The only things breaking the silence were the sad, pathetic beeps of broken paneling, the deep thrum of Ren's lightsaber, and the rapid, heavy breathing of the Knight through his mask.

“Ren,” Hux began again, not entirely sure what he planned to say, but stars be damned if he couldn't find something to lecture the man about. Ren whipped around, lightsaber blazing, almost like he had forgotten Hux was even in the room. He seemed like a wild animal, hunched over, hands twitching and flexing, head moving rapidly to scan the room. Just as he extinguished his lightsaber, the ship heaved again, and he jumped so violently while throwing his weapon back on that Hux even flinched back.

He was moving too fast. He would either hurt himself of Hux in the small, damaged room.

“Ren, stop it, you're only going to make this worse!” Hux snapped as the Knight stabbed a beam in the middle of the room. Somehow, miraculously, Ren seemed to not only hear but listen to Hux for once as he deactivated his lightsaber, clipping it onto his belt as he began to angrily pace the room.

 

An hour later found the two still trapped in the room, Hux seated on the cool floor, back against one of the only undamaged sections of wall. His greatcoat was folded neatly beside him, and he placed his gloves and hat on top in an orderly stack.

Ren was still violently stomping back and forth across the room in agitation.

Hux rolled his eyes as he watched the man, having nothing better to do. “You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep that up.” Ren's pace only faltered for a brief second, but he continued his steps. It was really starting to grate on Hux's nerves. The man's hands flexed strangely in his gloves when he reached the corners, and his breathing was still faster than normal. Hux figured he must be extremely mad about something, which was odd considering this was really all his own fault.

“Why don't you take your helmet off?” Hux suggested. It would stop the horribly annoying static sounds coming from the mask and provide Hux with something else to look at. A win-win. “It's nothing I haven't seen before.” That much was true, he had seen the Knight's face a few times, and he would admit that sometimes he was intrigued by the man behind the helmet.

After a moment of hesitation, Ren paused completely. He reached up, undoing the clasps as his helmet let out a small hiss, and pulled it from his head. Hux watched as he shook out his hair before dropping the helmet to the ground with a heavy thunk. The Knight's eyes darted around the room and-

And he began pacing again. Hux sighed and slouched a little. This was going to be incredibly tedious.

But there was something odd about the Knight's expression, something Hux had never seen cross those prominent features. “You could sit, you know,” Hux mumbled mostly to himself, knowing he would be ignored as Ren continued stomping around the room, back and forth, muttering incoherently to himself. His eyes looked wild, confused, unfocused. It was starting to make Hux nervous.

He stood up, folding his arms across his chest. “Ren,” he repeated, feeling a bit like a broken record.

With an unnerving scraping sound, the floor began to shake. Hux knew it was just the back-up stabilizers (finally) activating, but Ren apparently did not as he froze in another awkward yet defensively imposing stance, lightsaber flaring to life in his grip. The ship lurched one final time as the stabilizers fully kicked in, causing the support beam the Knight had stabbed earlier to buckle and creak precariously, then fall, Ren only jumping out of the way just in time.

The room was now cut practically in half: Hux and Ren on one side, destruction and debris on the other. Ren was panting, looking around at the mess desperately, and the expression on his face, Hux realized, was fear. It looked so foreign on those features.

Hux eyed the lightsaber warily as the beams were much closer in the confined space. There was enough room for each man to have his own personal space, but Hux didn't want to be anywhere near the unstable weapon, especially with the Knight in a similarly unstable state. His eyes fell back on Ren as the man continued to panic.

“Ren.” His statement went ignored. “Ren!” he tried again, stepping directly in front of him as the Knight's eyes darted frantically around the room, mostly unseeing. “Kylo,” he tried, and reached out to place a hand on the man's shaking shoulder. The effect was instantaneous; Ren flinched away violently in a way that Hux distinctly understood as defensive. Strange. “Kylo?” Ren's eyes locked onto his and he froze. Hux had never seen him look so scared. He found that he didn't like it.

“Hux?”

Hux reached out again, placing his hand carefully on the Knight's bicep. Ren flinched again but did not pull away this time. It wasn't pain...something else. The gears in Hux's head began to turn as he slowly ran his hand down Ren's arm, keeping his gaze locked on Ren's eyes, noticing how the Knight's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, before pausing on his wrist.

“Let's turn off the lightsaber, alright?” Hux was surprised at the gentleness in his own voice. With the push of a button the instant Hux's hand touched the side of Ren's glove, the plasma blades retracted. Hux took the weapon carefully, setting it down next to his stack of greatcoat, hat, and gloves. He could feel Ren staring at him as he slid the helmet over to join the pile.

“What was that about?” he asked, concerned as he straightened.

“Claustrophobic,” Ren mumbled, looking a bit more like himself as his darkened gaze fell to his feet.

“But you're always confined in that blasted helmet!” Hux replied indignantly before he could stop himself.

“I'm in control of the helmet.”

Hux didn't add that technically he was in control of their current situation as well, since he had caused it, because the thin higher tone of Ren's voice seemed so sad. It would be counterproductive at that point. Hux tugged Ren's wrist slightly, wordlessly directing him so that they could sit back on the ground. Ren's hands trembled beneath his own. Hux removed the Knight's gloves one by one, stacking them in the little pile, noticing the way Ren's breath changed whenever Hux's bare knuckles brushed against his skin.

The General's brow furrowed slightly, still trying to work out what was going on, as he let his fingers rest against the tender skin of Ren's wrist.

The Knight twitched, froze, eyes shut, breathing quickly though his nose before opening his watery brown eyes to stare at the spot where Hux's skin touched his own.

Hux tilted his head slightly, reaching his other hand upward. He hesitated for a moment, then let his hand gently cup the side of Ren's face. The Knight jumped, startled, but not away from the touch. Seconds later, Hux found that Ren was actually leaning into the touch, eyes fluttering shut again beneath dark lashes. Then everything clicked in Hux's mind.

“Oh,” Hux said softly, pulling his hands back.

Ren's eyes flew open, looking sad and scared and daring Hux to use this against him yet looking like he would shatter if Hux did.

“When was...” Hux trailed off. “Has anyone ever-” he didn't quite know what to say. Could it be possible that the Knight had gone so long without a soft touch? That he never had any contact besides battle and the touch of the Force?

Ren gave a small shake of his head, eyes not leaving Hux's, looking mournful about the space between them now.

“I'm not going anywhere,” Hux tried to say soothingly. It was true, they were still trapped in the blasted panel room, but it seemed to calm Ren slightly. Though he could still feel the anxiety rolling off the Knight.

“Your anxiety is projecting, you know,” Hux murmured.

“I can't help it,” Ren said, looking more and more defensive, like he wanted nothing more than to flee the small, trapped room than deal with talking to Hux about the whole ordeal.

“I didn't mean-” Hux shook his head. Arguing. Pointless. And something had changed between them, something he wanted to explore later. “What usually helps?” he asked instead.

“I don't _know_. _”_

Right. Hux supposed that was a rather useless question as he had frequently seen the result of Ren's emotions taken out on wall after wall of poor, defenseless machinery.

The ship shook again, back-up stabilizers trying to work through whatever rough patch they were flying in. Ren grabbed at Hux's hand reflexively, breathing through gritted teeth as the Finalizer battled the turbulence. Hux allowed his hand to be taken, watching curiously as some of his feelings towards Ren began to click into place.

As soon as the shaking stopped, Ren seemed to notice his trembling hands were clutching at Hux and he tried to pull away, embarrassed. Before he could retreat or draw back into himself, Hux caught his hand in a firm grip, softening it when the Knight relaxed enough that Hux knew he wouldn't pull away.

“It's ok,” Hux whispered. He pulled Ren's hand into his lap so that he could hold it in both of his own. He ran a thumb across Ren's knuckles softly and the man drew in a shaky breath. Hux repeated the gentle motion, watching the Knight's face carefully.

“I've never-” Ren's voice came out in a hoarse whisper. “Your hands are soft,” he mumbled. He seemed so unsure of what to say or do, latching onto the trace of Hux's thumb like it was a lifeline anchoring him.

“Is this helping?” Hux asked, equally soft.

Ren nodded. Hux turned their hands so that he could lace one of his own with Ren's fingers. Ren made a small noise in the back of his throat. He continued to rub his thumb along the side of Ren's.

A distant, forgotten memory came to Hux, one of his mother. How she had comforted him as a small child. Hux reached his unoccupied hand towards Ren, hovering by his head.

“May I?” Ren looked confused for a moment, like he was suddenly brought out of an intense dream, but then gave a single nod at Hux's hand, lips twitching.

The moment Hux's hand brushed into the impossibly soft locks, Ren practically melted, making another odd quiet sound. Hux found it endearing. “Lean against my shoulder,” he murmured, lightly pressing Ren the way he wanted him to go.

The Knight gasped as Hux's hand carded through his hair in soothing motions, lost to the feeling. Hux's thumb brushed against Ren's temple as his fingertips rubbed into his scalp and the Knight drew in a shuddering breath. He went mostly limp, all except for the hand holding Hux's like he would never let go. His other arm moved up slightly as if he was unsure of what to do with it.

“You can touch me too, if you'd like,” Hux said quietly. The Knight's shaking hand hovered over Hux before falling hesitantly to his waist. Hux let out a pleased sigh and, encouraged, Ren allowed his hand to fully rest on Hux, in a semblance of a hug. Hux continued to pet the Knight's hair, finding this calming for himself too. He felt that he understood the Knight more, now, knowing that he hadn't been shown much kindness before. It was something that Hux wanted to fix.

“Thank you,” he barely heard the mumbled words from Ren. That was different. In response, Hux dipped his head, closing the few inches between them to nuzzle slightly into his hair. Ren made another one of his curious noises, this time almost a purring keen, as Hux couldn't stop himself from pressing a light kiss to his hairline. The Knight gasped again, hand tensing slightly in Hux's.

“Hux?”

“Ren,” Hux murmured back, halfway into the dark hair.

The Knight let out a puff of air through his nose. “You called me Kylo earlier,” he mumbled, not knowing what else to say, and Hux wondered if he meant to say it aloud.

“It worked,” Hux answered, his hand rubbing soothing circles into the back of Ren's neck.

The ship shuddered again and Kylo winced against him; Hux could feel his anxiety and tension growing, ruining all of his hard work and the calmness he had created between himself and the Knight. He would not allow that to happen.

“Would it help calm you if you could look into my mind?” Hux blurted before he could think about what he was saying. He didn't want the spell to be broken. He thought that if the Knight could inhabit a calm mind it might serve him well. And Hux had been calm, it may have helped, but now his thoughts were racing.

Kylo leaned back slightly, looking at him curiously, waiting for permission. Hux had never allowed him in before, keeping up thick walls. The General took a breath and nodded. “Go ahead. If it helps.”

Ren settled back onto his shoulder and Hux's heart raced as fast as his thoughts. Moments later, he felt a gentle nudge in his mind, just a small presence, as he tried to reign his thoughts back into a more calm nature. Ren had other ideas, it would seem, as Hux felt him quickly sifting through his thoughts, trying to get a reading on Hux's feelings.

_Calm. Petting. Stroking. So soft. Kylo._

The thoughts shuffled as he moved on, Hux just barely able to follow along in his own head.

_Touch-starved. So sad. Must be lonely. Aren't we all._

His thoughts shifted again, Hux feeling like they were getting closer to personal territory.

_Want this. Don't want to stop._

He could feel distant echoes of the same sentiment reflected in Kylo's thoughts in his head. It was an odd feeling. And then the Knight found thoughts that Hux had been keeping from himself until he had the time to figure them out and the General pushed at them, trying to retreat back to another thought system, but Ren wouldn't budge.

_Has he felt love? Has he known kindness? Can I show him? If he's never been touched has he never been kissed?_

Hux gasped, frantically trying to steer his thoughts away, not wanting to ruin the small amount of new peace between them, but Ren locked onto those thoughts.

_His lips. Kylo. Could I kiss him? What would it be like? Would he even want me?_

And then suddenly the presence was gone from his mind. Before he even had the chance to stutter out an apology, back stiffening, the Knight's hand tightened on his waist.

“You can,” he choked out, staring into Hux's eyes. Hux found himself getting lost in his big brown eyes. He was speechless, and the little nudge in his mind was back. He tried to push specific feelings towards Ren, not sure how the Force worked.

_Thought you hated me. Don't want to take advantage. Kylo._

_Don't hate you,_ a voice came back in his head. _Please._

_Why me?_

_Only you, Hux. You're not afraid of me, you-_ and suddenly instead of words, the images from their encounters in the trapped room came to him through Ren's point of view. He could feel the full force of his anxiety and how quickly Hux had calmed him and the pleasure of a gentle touch for the first time and Hux was overwhelmed.

 _“Please,”_ the Knight urged.

“ _Ok.”_ Hux wasn't sure if he replied out loud or in his head.

His hand slid from around the back of Kylo's neck to cup his cheek again, pulling his face closer. The Knight's eyes fluttered shut as Hux brushed his nose alongside Ren's for a moment, feeling their breath mixing. Hux tilted his head a few centimeters and pressed his lips against Kylo's, capturing the Knight's bottom lip gently between his own for a brief moment.

“There,” Hux whispered as he pulled away, leaning his forehead against Kylo's. His lips had been impossibly soft and plush and warm and Hux wanted more, knew he would be wanting those lips forever. If only-

“Hux,” Kylo whimpered, and Hux kissed him again. And again. Insistent lips pressing against even softer ones. He slowly let his tongue trace over Kylo's lower lip, earning a gasp between his quiet, needy noises, and Hux gently licked into his mouth, capturing the little sounds he would never get enough of.

Hux tried to pull back slightly to allow the Knight the chance to breathe, but Kylo followed him desperately. Hux knew his own lips were chapped, a terrible side effect to his biting at them in frustration when he was particularly stressed, one of his vices. They were nothing compared to the soft, warm lips pressing against his own, but from the way Kylo was reacting, Hux's lips may as well have been the sweetest nectar the Knight had ever tasted.

 _Warm. Soft. Hux. Need. Hux._ He felt Kylo in his own head. Hux slowed the desperate kisses, deepening them as he sent reassuring feelings back and buried his hands in Kylo's hair. The Knight shivered and whimpered a sigh into Hux's mouth.

_Kylo._

The Knight pulled back, catching his breath, pressing his forehead back to Hux's but keeping his arms tightly attached to the General, grasping at his shoulders.

“Hux, I-” he rasped.

“Shhh,” Hux mumbled, nuzzling his nose against Kylo's. He pressed a light kiss to the corner of the Knight's mouth, gently kissing along his jaw and across his face. A kiss atop each mole. Each freckle. Each scar. Brushed across his eyelids, along his hairline, down his nose.

Kylo almost cried at the softness, small noises whimpering out as he tried to get Hux's lips back on his own.

There was a knock on the door just as Hux acquiesced. Kylo froze, heart pounding, but Hux continued to kiss along the bridge of Kylo's nose.

“General?” Kylo whined at the Lieutenant's interruption.

“Mmm. Yes?” Hux called back, looking like he was having trouble keeping his lips off of Kylo, but settled for nuzzling against his nose instead.

“We've found a way to get the door open, sir.”

Hux sighed and pulled back reluctantly. “Thank you, Lieutenant.” He pressed one final kiss to Kylo's lips, the Knight leaning in, and brushed his lips across the Knight's knuckles before standing and helping Kylo up. The poor Knight looked a mess, hair fluffed up, lips swollen, face red, eyes longing. Hux felt a smile come to his lips, he had done that, and he gathered their things off the ground, feeling Kylo's gaze on him.

Hux handed Kylo his helmet and the Knight wordlessly put it on as his face flushed deeper, seeing himself in Hux's thoughts. Hux already missed his face.

He had just managed to get his gloves on when the door slid open. They were met with the sight of Mitaka and a small tech crew, the Lieutenant looking as if he had just walked to his certain death.

“Lieutenant,” Hux tilted his head slightly at him and Mitaka looked like he didn't understand why he wasn't being reprimanded for taking so long.

Kylo stalked after him into the hallway, Mitaka and crew shuffling away from him, and stood awkwardly for a moment.

Hux felt him nudge his mind, unsure, and the General tried to keep the smile from his face.

“Lord Ren,” the helmet turned towards him. “If you should ever wish to continue our...discussion, you know where to find me,” Hux turned and headed back towards the bridge, allowing the smile to consume his face as he rounded the corner into a deserted hallway.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> <3


End file.
